Yepp. It works just fine in AP mode. I tested bandwidth with iperf3 client from iPhone 13 and it tops around 800Mbit/sec in 802.11ax 5GHz with 80Mhz wide channel. I have no WiFi6E device to test it with but I assume it will work just fine as well, it is just another frequency.
So yeah, working WIFI 6e on x86 for 12EUR. Not bad.
What about range?
unclear. dBm display in Luci is buggy and I am using small antennae that followed with WiFi card. But subjectively, worse than dedicated router with 3 antennae.
FYI: there is a bug in OpenWrt 22.03.5 stable release of m7921E driver. Channel mapping is wrong and choosing any of DFS channels (52-144) will activate 6GHz instead of 5GHz. So only 36-48 and 149-165 are usable in 5GHz band.
...there is more than one reason why I'm talking about master and not 22.03.
As pointed out before, there is no point in running bleeding edge hardware with old software.
I already have AP's for WiFi so I just needed cheap WiFi AP card for my x86 "in case of emergency". It works fine in 802.11ax at 2.4GHz and 5GHz already so it is good enough for me.
But this basically answers the recurring question "are there any WiFi 6E cards for OpenWRT".
There are and they are cheap and work.
where did you find it for 12EUR?
this looks even better.. 160 mhz , MT7922 , https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005670678539.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.50c838dahT04c9&mp=1
I'm using the same MT7921 in an M.2 card running in x86 ... The card only see one of the radios, not sure how to have simultaneously 2 or 3 radios (if 6GHz is working). Also the other problem is that the card only comes up in AP mode if I do "disable and then enable" after a boot. Someone got it solved?
cat /etc/config/wireless
config wifi-device 'radio0'
option type 'mac80211'
option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:10.0'
option channel '36'
option band '5g'
option htmode 'HE80'
config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
option device 'radio0'
option network 'lan'
option mode 'ap'
option ssid 'OpenWrt'
option encryption 'none'
lspci shows:
00:10.0 Network controller: MEDIATEK Corp. MT7921 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter
iw list shows:
iw list
Wiphy phy0
wiphy index: 0
max # scan SSIDs: 4
max scan IEs length: 482 bytes
max # sched scan SSIDs: 10
max # match sets: 16
Retry short limit: 7
Retry long limit: 4
Coverage class: 0 (up to 0m)
Device supports AP-side u-APSD.
Device supports T-DLS.
Available Antennas: TX 0x3 RX 0x3
Configured Antennas: TX 0x3 RX 0x3
Supported interface modes:
* managed
* AP
* AP/VLAN
* monitor
Band 1:
Capabilities: 0x9ff
RX LDPC
HT20/HT40
SM Power Save disabled
RX Greenfield
RX HT20 SGI
RX HT40 SGI
TX STBC
RX STBC 1-stream
Max AMSDU length: 7935 bytes
No DSSS/CCK HT40
Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: No restriction (0x00)
HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-15
HE Iftypes: managed
HE MAC Capabilities (0x08011a000040):
+HTC HE Supported
Trigger Frame MAC Padding Duration: 2
OM Control
Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 3
A-MSDU in A-MPDU
HE PHY Capabilities: (0x2270ce120dc0b306423f00):
HE40/2.4GHz
242 tone RUs/2.4GHz
Device Class: 1
LDPC Coding in Payload
HE SU PPDU with 1x HE-LTF and 0.8us GI
NDP with 4x HE-LTF and 3.2us GI
STBC Tx <= 80MHz
STBC Rx <= 80MHz
Full Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
Partial Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
DCM Max Constellation: 2
DCM Max Constellation Rx: 2
SU Beamformee
Beamformee STS <= 80Mhz: 3
Ng = 16 SU Feedback
Ng = 16 MU Feedback
Codebook Size SU Feedback
Codebook Size MU Feedback
Triggered CQI Feedback
Partial Bandwidth Extended Range
PPE Threshold Present
Power Boost Factor ar
HE SU PPDU & HE PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
20MHz in 40MHz HE PPDU 2.4GHz
DCM Max BW: 1
Longer Than 16HE SIG-B OFDM Symbols
Non-Triggered CQI Feedback
TX 1024-QAM
RX 1024-QAM
RX Full BW SU Using HE MU PPDU with Compression SIGB
RX Full BW SU Using HE MU PPDU with Non-Compression SIGB
HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
1 streams: MCS 0-11
2 streams: MCS 0-11
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
1 streams: MCS 0-11
2 streams: MCS 0-11
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
PPE Threshold 0x39 0x1c 0xc7 0x71 0x1c 0x07
HE Iftypes: AP
HE MAC Capabilities (0x00011a081044):
+HTC HE Supported
BSR
OM Control
Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 3
BQR
A-MSDU in A-MPDU
OM Control UL MU Data Disable RX
HE PHY Capabilities: (0x0220ce120000a000000c00):
HE40/2.4GHz
LDPC Coding in Payload
NDP with 4x HE-LTF and 3.2us GI
STBC Tx <= 80MHz
STBC Rx <= 80MHz
Full Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
Partial Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
DCM Max Constellation: 2
DCM Max Constellation Rx: 2
Partial Bandwidth Extended Range
PPE Threshold Present
TX 1024-QAM
RX 1024-QAM
HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
1 streams: MCS 0-11
2 streams: MCS 0-11
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
1 streams: MCS 0-11
2 streams: MCS 0-11
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
PPE Threshold 0x39 0x1c 0xc7 0x71 0x1c 0x07
Frequencies:
* 2412 MHz [1] (20.0 dBm)
* 2417 MHz [2] (20.0 dBm)
* 2422 MHz [3] (20.0 dBm)
* 2427 MHz [4] (20.0 dBm)
* 2432 MHz [5] (20.0 dBm)
* 2437 MHz [6] (20.0 dBm)
* 2442 MHz [7] (20.0 dBm)
* 2447 MHz [8] (20.0 dBm)
* 2452 MHz [9] (20.0 dBm)
* 2457 MHz [10] (20.0 dBm)
* 2462 MHz [11] (20.0 dBm)
* 2467 MHz [12] (20.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 2472 MHz [13] (20.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 2484 MHz [14] (20.0 dBm) (no IR)
Band 2:
Capabilities: 0x9ff
RX LDPC
HT20/HT40
SM Power Save disabled
RX Greenfield
RX HT20 SGI
RX HT40 SGI
TX STBC
RX STBC 1-stream
Max AMSDU length: 7935 bytes
No DSSS/CCK HT40
Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: No restriction (0x00)
HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-15
VHT Capabilities (0x339071b2):
Max MPDU length: 11454
Supported Channel Width: neither 160 nor 80+80
RX LDPC
short GI (80 MHz)
TX STBC
SU Beamformee
MU Beamformee
RX antenna pattern consistency
TX antenna pattern consistency
VHT RX MCS set:
1 streams: MCS 0-9
2 streams: MCS 0-9
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
VHT RX highest supported: 0 Mbps
VHT TX MCS set:
1 streams: MCS 0-9
2 streams: MCS 0-9
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
VHT TX highest supported: 0 Mbps
HE Iftypes: managed
HE MAC Capabilities (0x08011a000040):
+HTC HE Supported
Trigger Frame MAC Padding Duration: 2
OM Control
Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 3
A-MSDU in A-MPDU
HE PHY Capabilities: (0x4470ce120dc0b306423f00):
HE40/HE80/5GHz
242 tone RUs/5GHz
Device Class: 1
LDPC Coding in Payload
HE SU PPDU with 1x HE-LTF and 0.8us GI
NDP with 4x HE-LTF and 3.2us GI
STBC Tx <= 80MHz
STBC Rx <= 80MHz
Full Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
Partial Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
DCM Max Constellation: 2
DCM Max Constellation Rx: 2
SU Beamformee
Beamformee STS <= 80Mhz: 3
Ng = 16 SU Feedback
Ng = 16 MU Feedback
Codebook Size SU Feedback
Codebook Size MU Feedback
Triggered CQI Feedback
Partial Bandwidth Extended Range
PPE Threshold Present
Power Boost Factor ar
HE SU PPDU & HE PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
20MHz in 40MHz HE PPDU 2.4GHz
DCM Max BW: 1
Longer Than 16HE SIG-B OFDM Symbols
Non-Triggered CQI Feedback
TX 1024-QAM
RX 1024-QAM
RX Full BW SU Using HE MU PPDU with Compression SIGB
RX Full BW SU Using HE MU PPDU with Non-Compression SIGB
HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
1 streams: MCS 0-11
2 streams: MCS 0-11
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
1 streams: MCS 0-11
2 streams: MCS 0-11
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
PPE Threshold 0x39 0x1c 0xc7 0x71 0x1c 0x07
HE Iftypes: AP
HE MAC Capabilities (0x00011a081044):
+HTC HE Supported
BSR
OM Control
Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 3
BQR
A-MSDU in A-MPDU
OM Control UL MU Data Disable RX
HE PHY Capabilities: (0x0420ce120000a000000c00):
HE40/HE80/5GHz
LDPC Coding in Payload
NDP with 4x HE-LTF and 3.2us GI
STBC Tx <= 80MHz
STBC Rx <= 80MHz
Full Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
Partial Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
DCM Max Constellation: 2
DCM Max Constellation Rx: 2
Partial Bandwidth Extended Range
PPE Threshold Present
TX 1024-QAM
RX 1024-QAM
HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
1 streams: MCS 0-11
2 streams: MCS 0-11
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
1 streams: MCS 0-11
2 streams: MCS 0-11
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
PPE Threshold 0x39 0x1c 0xc7 0x71 0x1c 0x07
Frequencies:
* 5180 MHz [36] (20.0 dBm)
* 5200 MHz [40] (20.0 dBm)
* 5220 MHz [44] (20.0 dBm)
* 5240 MHz [48] (20.0 dBm)
* 5260 MHz [52] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5280 MHz [56] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5300 MHz [60] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5320 MHz [64] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5500 MHz [100] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5520 MHz [104] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5540 MHz [108] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5560 MHz [112] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5580 MHz [116] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5600 MHz [120] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5620 MHz [124] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5640 MHz [128] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5660 MHz [132] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5680 MHz [136] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5700 MHz [140] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5720 MHz [144] (20.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5745 MHz [149] (20.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5765 MHz [153] (20.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5785 MHz [157] (20.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5805 MHz [161] (20.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5825 MHz [165] (20.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5845 MHz [169] (disabled)
* 5865 MHz [173] (disabled)
valid interface combinations:
* #{ managed } <= 4, #{ AP } <= 1,
total <= 4, #channels <= 1, STA/AP BI must match
HT Capability overrides:
* MCS: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
* maximum A-MSDU length
* supported channel width
* short GI for 40 MHz
* max A-MPDU length exponent
* min MPDU start spacing
max # scan plans: 1
max scan plan interval: 65535
max scan plan iterations: 0
Supported extended features:
* [ RRM ]: RRM
* [ SET_SCAN_DWELL ]: scan dwell setting
* [ BEACON_RATE_LEGACY ]: legacy beacon rate setting
* [ BEACON_RATE_HT ]: HT beacon rate setting
* [ BEACON_RATE_VHT ]: VHT beacon rate setting
* [ FILS_STA ]: STA FILS (Fast Initial Link Setup)
* [ CQM_RSSI_LIST ]: multiple CQM_RSSI_THOLD records
* [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211 ]: control port over nl80211
* [ TXQS ]: FQ-CoDel-enabled intermediate TXQs
* [ AIRTIME_FAIRNESS ]: airtime fairness scheduling
* [ AQL ]: Airtime Queue Limits (AQL)
* [ CONTROL_PORT_NO_PREAUTH ]: disable pre-auth over nl80211 control port support
* [ SCAN_FREQ_KHZ ]: scan on kHz frequency support
* [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211_TX_STATUS ]: tx status for nl80211 control port support
and
cat /var/run/hostapd-phy0.conf
driver=nl80211
logger_syslog=127
logger_syslog_level=2
logger_stdout=127
logger_stdout_level=2
hw_mode=a
beacon_int=100
channel=36
chanlist=36
tx_queue_data2_burst=2.0
ieee80211n=1
ht_coex=0
ht_capab=[HT40+][LDPC][SHORT-GI-20][SHORT-GI-40][TX-STBC][RX-STBC1][MAX-AMSDU-7935]
ieee80211ac=1
vht_oper_chwidth=1
vht_oper_centr_freq_seg0_idx=42
vht_capab=[RXLDPC][SHORT-GI-80][TX-STBC-2BY1][SU-BEAMFORMEE][MU-BEAMFORMEE][RX-ANTENNA-PATTERN][TX-ANTENNA-PATTERN][RX-STBC-1][BF-ANTENNA-4][MAX-MPDU-11454][MAX-A-MPDU-LEN-EXP7]
ieee80211ax=1
he_oper_chwidth=1
he_oper_centr_freq_seg0_idx=42
he_default_pe_duration=4
he_rts_threshold=1023
he_mu_edca_qos_info_param_count=0
he_mu_edca_qos_info_q_ack=0
he_mu_edca_qos_info_queue_request=0
he_mu_edca_qos_info_txop_request=0
he_mu_edca_ac_be_aifsn=8
he_mu_edca_ac_be_aci=0
he_mu_edca_ac_be_ecwmin=9
he_mu_edca_ac_be_ecwmax=10
he_mu_edca_ac_be_timer=255
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_aifsn=15
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_aci=1
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_ecwmin=9
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_ecwmax=10
he_mu_edca_ac_bk_timer=255
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_ecwmin=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_ecwmax=7
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_aifsn=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_aci=2
he_mu_edca_ac_vi_timer=255
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_aifsn=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_aci=3
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_ecwmin=5
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_ecwmax=7
he_mu_edca_ac_vo_timer=255
radio_config_id=8e9e6c5b46bb36b4cd853ee815ef0122
interface=wlan0
ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd
ap_isolate=1
bss_load_update_period=60
chan_util_avg_period=600
disassoc_low_ack=1
skip_inactivity_poll=0
preamble=1
wmm_enabled=1
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
uapsd_advertisement_enabled=1
utf8_ssid=1
multi_ap=0
auth_algs=1
wpa=0
ssid=OpenWrt
bridge=br-lan
wds_bridge=
snoop_iface=br-lan
qos_map_set=0,0,2,16,1,1,255,255,18,22,24,38,40,40,44,46,48,56
config_id=dd14ec6a7c90e36831b63d55e3b34a8b
bssid=30:03:c8:ca:04:0d
by the way:
cat /etc/openwrt_release
DISTRIB_ID='OpenWrt'
DISTRIB_RELEASE='22.03.5'
DISTRIB_REVISION='r20134-5f15225c1e'
DISTRIB_TARGET='x86/64'
DISTRIB_ARCH='x86_64'
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION='OpenWrt 22.03.5 r20134-5f15225c1e'
DISTRIB_TAINTS=''
What makes you believe that this card could do that?
mt7621 is a client-oriented card, I don't see (or envision) any indication of DBDC support, so one radio, one channel - you have to choose which (sole) channel/ band to use.
Understood, missed that point when purchasing it. I'm guessing MT7922 is the same, and can't find easily MT7915 based ones which seems to be the replacement for APs.
An OpenWRT supported alternative seems to be the NFA765?
mt7915/ mt7916 would be the AP oriented variants, and I guess(?) you'd want the DBDC variants of those (but even those can only serve two bands concurrently, not three).
I didn't knew that those devices, even having 6GHz band support, could not be used in the 3 bands by different clients at the same time ...
What about the NFA765 ?
Can you please share your wifi config? I can't make the two radios work (2.4 & 5GHz) simultaneously.
OpenWrt 23.05.0-rc3 r23389-5deed175a5 / LuCI openwrt-23.05 branch git-23.219.80063-bece581
wpad-openssl 2023-06-22-599d00be-1.2
kmod-mt7921e 5.15.127+2023-07-26-cd3dfe39-1
Thanks in advance.
mt7921k is not a DBDC card, one M.2 PCIe card, one radio, one MAC, one PHY, only a single channel at a time. While it can operate on either 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz XOR 6 GHz, it can't cover more than one channel/ band at a time.
Thanks for the reply. I came to the same conclusion after tinkering with the configuration and reading some docs.
mt7921k is one-band-at-the-time cheap client card that happens to support AP-mode. That being said, I do not think you will be able to find any WiFi card that will support 5GHz and 6GHz simultaneously. 2.4GHz and (5 or 6GHz) yes, but not 5 + 6. It is same radio that runs both 5 and 6GHz bands...
Why 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz/6 GHz and not 5 GHz + 6 GHz?
Gruntruck is probably spot on, because the division is between 2.4- and 5 GHz, with 6 GHz 'just' being an extension of the 5 GHz band. This both means the hardware probably just wouldn't do 5-6 GHz twice, as well as the interference of the rather close adjacent bands to become a problem (also with the antennas in mind, 2.4 GHz and 5/ 6 GHz are different and are easier to keep apart (bandfiltering)).